As I previously reported, the US military is launching a "Federal Virtual World Challenge" to get the public to submit ideas for "innovative and interactive training and
analysis solutions in virtual worlds." Today the challenge was officially launched at http://www.fvwc.army.mil.
In the accompanying video, Tami Griffith of the U.S. Army Research and Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) describes the challenge, an effort of the U.S. military to solicit proposals from the general public on how to best use virtual worlds for training and data analysis. While this challenge is sponsored by the US armed forces, they foresee the results being used for a variety of governmental, private sector and public applications.
Submissions will be judged on four criteria:
- Solution to a stated problem
- Technical quality
- Creativity / Innovation
- and usability
Submissions are due by November 15, 2009. The top entries will made available for public comment in February, and the winners announced in March 2010 at the Defence User's Game Tech Conference in Orlando, Florida.
Check out all the details at http://www.fvwc.army.mil.
In related news, NATO is soliciting tenders for a virtual world training facility. So lots of military organizations are getting on the virtual training bandwagon, apparently. (Hat tip to Tateru Nino at Massively.)
